Planned Giving Made Simple: How AI Helps Nonprofits Spot Tomorrow’s Legacy Donors Today
The donor who leaves your organization a meaningful gift in their will might not be the person at the top of your annual giving report. They could be the longtime volunteer who gives $25 each year, the monthly donor who rarely responds to appeals, or the supporter who always shows up for your community events.
That’s what makes planned giving both exciting and easy to overlook. Legacy donors often show their commitment through steady, everyday actions, not necessarily large gifts.
AI can help your team notice those patterns, organize the next steps, and keep your relationships warm over time. It can’t tell you what’s in someone’s will or replace a genuine conversation. But used thoughtfully, it can help you spot supporters who may welcome a chance to shape your organization’s future.
Look for relationship strength, not just gift size
A planned-giving prospect isn’t simply “a donor with money.” The signals you can responsibly use are often the ones your organization already sees: how long someone’s been connected to your mission, whether they give consistently, and how they engage with your work.
For example, AI tools can help your team bring together patterns such as:
- Giving history: Repeat gifts and sustained support over time, including modest annual or monthly contributions.
- Tenure: Years connected to your organization as a donor, volunteer, event attendee, member, or advocate.
- Engagement: Participation in events, program updates, volunteer opportunities, and other mission-related activities.
- Relationship activity: Recent replies, meeting notes, or requests for information, provided those records are accurate and appropriate to use.
- Clear expressions of interest: A supporter who asks about leaving a gift, requests legacy information, or tells a staff member they’ve already included your organization in their plans.
The goal isn’t to create a secret ranking of who’s “valuable.” It’s to make it easier for your team to see meaningful combinations of signals and decide where a personal conversation might make sense.
A published study on planned giving found that a giving history alone doesn’t describe every legacy donor: some had supported organizations for many years, while others had given for less time, or hadn’t previously donated. That’s a useful reminder to treat patterns as clues, not eligibility rules. Read the study.
Consider a supporter who has given a small amount every year for eight years and volunteered at your annual event. Their giving level may not trigger a major-gift alert, but their sustained connection could make them a good fit for a gentle invitation to learn about legacy giving.
Use AI to spot patterns, then let people lead
AI can help sort records, flag engagement trends, summarize relationship history, and suggest who might appreciate a conversation. That can save time for a small development team working across a large donor database.
But keep the tool in the assistant’s seat. A score is not proof of intent, and it isn’t a reason to make assumptions about someone’s age, wealth, health, family, or estate plans. The most useful AI output is a starting point for human review, not an automatic decision about who deserves attention.
A practical review process might look like this:
- Choose useful, mission-related signals. Start with information you already collect, such as giving frequency, relationship tenure, event participation, and stated interests.
- Check the records. Make sure gifts and activities are connected to the right person. Duplicate records or outdated contact details can lead to awkward outreach.
- Review the suggested list. Ask whether the patterns make sense and whether the list leaves out newer or less frequent supporters who might also care deeply about your mission.
- Decide on a human next step. A fundraiser, not an algorithm, should choose whether to reach out and how to approach the conversation.
- Keep learning. Track which messages lead to useful conversations, and adjust your approach based on what donors actually tell you.
Before using a new AI tool with donor information, understand how it stores and uses data. Keep sensitive or identifiable donor details out of unapproved tools. The Fundraising Regulator’s AI guidance offers practical advice on human oversight, risk assessment, transparency, and data management.
Open the conversation with curiosity, not pressure
Planned giving is personal. Your first outreach shouldn’t sound like an assumption that someone is ready to make a gift, or a request for details about their finances.
Instead, make the invitation low-pressure and connected to the supporter’s relationship with your mission. For instance:
“You’ve been part of our community for years, and we’re grateful. We’re sharing information about ways supporters can help our work continue into the future. Would you be interested in learning more?”
Or, if a supporter has asked about long-term impact:
“You mentioned how much our youth programs mean to you. We’d be happy to share how some supporters choose to keep that work going for future generations. No pressure: would that be useful?”
Give the donor room to say yes, no, or not now. If they’re interested, offer clear information and the option to speak with a qualified professional about legal or financial questions. Your organization can explain its mission and the ways a legacy gift could support its work, but it shouldn’t provide estate-planning or legal advice.
Nurture the relationship with personal, thoughtful touchpoints
Not every supporter who’s curious will be ready to take action. Some will want time to think, talk with family, or revisit the idea later. That’s okay. Your job is to stay helpful without making every contact feel like an ask.
AI-supported automation can help your team keep a thoughtful rhythm across email, phone, and text. For example, a supporter who requests legacy information might receive a thank-you, an impact story related to their interests, and a later invitation to a small information session. Staff can get a reminder to follow up personally if the donor replies or asks a question.
Text messaging can play a useful supporting role when supporters have opted in to receive texts. A short note might share a relevant event or let someone know you’ve emailed a resource they requested. Keep text messaging for nonprofits focused on service and connection, not a sudden, high-pressure appeal.
Good SMS donor engagement feels like a helpful nudge from an organization the donor already knows. Thoughtful nonprofit text message marketing can point to a story, event, or optional resource, while longer explanations belong on your website or in an email. Keep fundraising text messages concise, relevant, and easy to ignore or opt out of. Follow the rules that apply to your program, including consent and opt-out requirements.
For more practical guidance on channel fit and message cadence, see our guide to SMS fundraising and text messaging for nonprofits. For a broader look at keeping automated communications warm, explore donor stewardship automation.
Track a pipeline that reflects real relationships
A planned-giving pipeline shouldn’t just count names. It should show your team what’s happened, what the donor has asked for, and what a respectful next step might be.
Keep the stages simple. You could track:
- Identified: The supporter’s history or engagement suggests they may be interested in learning more.
- Invited: A staff member has shared an appropriate, low-pressure invitation.
- Interested: The supporter has asked for information or agreed to continue the conversation.
- In conversation: A fundraiser is answering questions and learning what matters to the donor.
- Documented: The donor has voluntarily told you about a planned gift.
- Stewardship: The organization is thanking the donor and staying connected, without assuming the gift is guaranteed.
Record consent and communication preferences, along with the donor’s own words and requested follow-up. Don’t treat an AI prediction as confirmed intent. And make sure donors who aren’t interested still receive the ordinary gratitude and care they deserve.
Start small, and make it sustainable
You don’t need a sophisticated model or a dedicated legacy-giving department to begin. Pick a manageable group of supporters, review the information you already have, and agree on one respectful way to introduce your legacy resources. Then decide who will respond when someone shows interest and how you’ll track that conversation.
AI can help you find the thread in years of activity and keep follow-up from slipping through the cracks. Your staff brings the judgment, care, and listening that make a legacy conversation feel human.
At Donation Accelerator, we combine AI-powered fundraising support with more than 90 years of combined nonprofit experience. Our planned giving strategies are designed to help organizations build lasting donor relationships without adding unnecessary work to already busy teams.
